A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC Comes to BoHo Theatre

BoHo Theatre continues its 2018 season with Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's classic musical A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT. Intimately staged with a focus on character and relationships, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC challenges audiences and artists alike with its complex musicality and darkly comedic themes of love and longing. The production is directed by Linda Fortunato, who has previously worked with BoHo on NEXT TO NORMAL, PARADE, and KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, with music direction by fellow BoHo alum Tom Vendafreddo (THE SPITFIRE GRILL).

From the writers of SWEENEY TODD comes this hilarious story of romantic attachments, detachments, and mismatchings. The winner of four Tony Awards, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC explores the tangled web of affairs centered around actress Desiree Armfeldt and the men who love her.

General Tickets on sale April 30 at www.BoHoTheatre.com or (773) 404-7336. Tickets are $25 for previews and $35 for regular performances.

Desiree is involved with the buffoonish Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm, husband of the cynical and wryly comedic Countess Charlotte Malcolm. But when Desiree spots her old flame Fredrik in the audience of her most recent production, her interest in him is immediately rekindled. Fredrik, however, has recently married the virginal 18-year old Anne, with whom Fredrik's son, the melancholy academic Henrik, has fallen in love. All parties meet for a "Weekend in the Country" at Desiree's mother, Madame Armfeldt's, estate, where the tangled web of romantic involvements continues to surprise us with its twists and turns. Featuring the classic, Grammy Award-winning song "Send in the Clowns" and a beautiful, lush score, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC is a story of love, nostalgia, regret, and the magic of music on a summer's night.

"Productions of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC are usually grand and lush," says director Linda Fortunato, "but I'm interested in a more intimate version, one which focuses on the characters." BoHo's production, its first at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Lincoln Park, will forego the usual orchestra pit and feature the production's musicians onstage as integral tellers of the story. "The entire musical is variations on the waltz," music director Tom Vendafreddo explains. "It's all theme and variation, which echoes the love triangles in the story. Everything is threes. Even in songs that only feature two singers, they are always talking about a third person."

Linda Fortunato (director) returns to BoHo where she directed NEXT TO NORMAL, PARADE (Jeff Nomination) and choreographed KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (Jeff Award). Linda is the Artistic Director of Theatre at the Center where her credits include directing CABARET, BIG RIVER, THE TIN WOMAN, STEEL MAGNOLIAS; choreographing 42ND STREET (Jeff Award), SPAMALOT, BIG FISH, CRAZY FOR YOU (Jeff Nomination); and a dozen other productions as director, choreographer, or actor. Choreography credits include Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, American Players Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Writers' Theatre, Peninsula Players, Provision Theatre, Remy Bumppo, and many Chicago-area high schools and colleges. Linda has also taught in the theatre departments at Loyola University and Columbia College Chicago.

Tom Vendafreddo (music director) is a Jeff Award-winning music director/actor with Chicago credits at Paramount Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Writers Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Porchlight Music Theatre, and BoHo Theatre (where he garnered his first Jeff Nomination for music direction of THE SPITFIRE GRILL). Regional credits include: Old Globe Theatre, Mason Street Warehouse, Capital City Theatre, Musical Theatre Heritage, Chestnut Fine Arts Center, and Red Mountain Theatre Company. Tom is the proud founding Artistic Director of the Chicago Artists Chorale. BM: Eastman School of Music. MFA: San Diego State University.

Produced by Meg Love Scenic Design by Evan Frank, Lighting Design by G. Max Maxin, Costume Design by Christina Leinicke, Sound Design by Tony Churchill, Properties Design by Mealah Heidenreich, Production Managed by Lindsay Brown, Stage Managed by Dalton Long.

BoHo Theatre's mission is to create bold theatre that challenges convention through innovative storytelling and unites artist and audience in the examination of Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love through the lens of human relationships. Its vision is to create a shared community of artists and patrons in which all members are moved through art to make thoughtful, well-examined, caring relationships the highest priority in their lives.

BoHo's 2018 season features CYRANO, a new translation of Edmond Rostand's play by Michael Hollinger and Aaron Posner, at Theater Wit; A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler at the Greenhouse Theater Center; and 110 IN THE SHADE by Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones, and N. Richard Nash at Theater Wit.

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